Technical Field
The invention relates to a method for spreading a laundry item, the laundry item being gripped at two adjacent corner regions of an edge by at least two spreader clips of a spreader device and spread, before being placed on a feed conveyor or laying strip assigned to the latter, characterized in that at least one corner region of the laundry item that is gripped by a spreader clip is captured by an imaging means as the laundry item is being spread. The invention additionally relates to a device for spreading a laundry item, having at least two spreader clips for holding, respectively, a corner region of the laundry item, the spreader clips being able to be moved apart and towards each other, characterized in that there is an imaging means assigned to each of the spreader clips, for capturing a corner region of the laundry item that is held by a spreader clip.
Prior Art
For the purpose of delivering laundry items, such as so-called flatwork, but also garments, to an ironer or the like, the respective laundry item to be delivered is introduced manually, by opposite corners of a lateral edge, into feed clips of a feeder device. Following subsequent shifting of the feed clips, the laundry item is further transferred to spreader clips of a spreader device. The spreader clips, which each hold a corner region of the opposite corners of the laundry item, are shifted transversely in relation to a delivery direction, such that the respective laundry item is spread out as a result of tautening of an upper edge that extends between the corners held by the clips. The laundry item spread out in such a manner is then placed on a feed conveyor or on a laying strip. From there, the laundry item is delivered to the ironer or the like.
As the spreader clips are spread apart, the laundry item is drawn out at the corner regions associated with an edge, in such a manner that a sag of this edge is minimized. This spreading or opening-out of the laundry item can result in deformations, or “ear formation”, at the corner regions of the laundry item that are gripped by the spreader clips. This “ear formation”, or enlargement of the corner regions, is mostly irreversible, and in the long term results in damage to the laundry items, or in tearing. Since this deformation of the corner regions can be transferred to the shape of the laundry item as a whole, this results in an unsatisfactory processing result for the laundry item. Apart from the fact that, in the long term, this widening of the laundry item results in destruction of the laundry item, this “ear formation” is undesirable, particularly in the case of flatwork items such as, for example, tablecloths.